The Mephisto Waltzes - Liszt's Devilish Dances The Mephisto Waltzes Liszt's Devilish Dances Each Mephisto Waltz is a devilish, whirling dance, showing off Franz Liszt's dazzling mastery of energy. They're named after the devil, Mephisto, in the German Faust legend. Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is by far the most famous, with pianists the world over using it as a vehicle to show off their speed and skill. Liszt's super-virtuoso musical style is brilliantly displayed in these pieces. They also reflect his fascination with the devil and program music (music which describes something). The Waltzes Liszt wrote four Mephisto Waltzes in total throughout his life. He composed the first one in 1859, and the other three near the end of his life in the 1880s. He didn't manage to finish the Fourth one before he died, but a playable version was published in the 1950s. Because he wrote them at different times during his life, they each have a distinctive sound.

The first is more conventional, with breakneck speeds and lots of complex patterns. Advanced pianists only! But the later ones are typical of Liszt's more experimental music. They're not nearly as difficult to perform. They focus much more on trying out new and interesting twists on conventional music theory instead of just blindly showing off. Mephisto Waltz No. 1 The first waltz, written between 1859 and 1862, describes a scene with Faust (the philosopher who sells his soul for passion) and Mephisto (the devil) in a village tavern. A mad wedding feast is underway, and Faust wants to join in. Mephisto grabs a violin and starts playing a wild and seductive melody. Faust dances insanely with a beautiful girl, and the pair whirl away into the night. Liszt does an excellent job of portraying the evil temptations generated by Mephisto, gleefully luring Faust and the villagers into sin. The piece starts with a clever and celebrated imitation of a violin tuning up, to set the mood for the torrent of sound that follows. A lot of pianists take it too far though.

Trying to show off, they play way too fast, and forget that the piece is a waltz to be danced to. Oh dear! Here's a wonderful video of a solo violin version of the first Waltz, transcribed by the famous violinist Nathan Milstein. Close your eyes, and imagine the devil himself playing this in a dirty tavern in the German countryside!! Mephisto Waltz No. 2 The second of the waltzes came roughly 20 years after the first, in 1881. Of course, Liszt had changed a lot in two decades, so this waltz reflects his mature talents. Full of devilish chords and dark sounds, it stretches the boundaries of harmony. It even looks forward to some of the bizarre things which composers would start to do in the 20th century. Liszt also wrote an orchestral version of this waltz, which uses the colorful palette of the orchestra to really bring this passionate and frenetic dance alive. Mephisto Waltz No. 3 This waltz, from 1883, is even more radical than the last. Music academics can't even name some of the strange harmonies in this piece!!

It's a mysterious masterpiece, full of exciting warmth and brightness. It sounds modern even today. I see it as existing on a deeper level than the previous two waltzes. Mephisto Waltz No. 4 Liszt began his final Waltz in 1885, but died the next year before he could finish it. Still, a playable version exists, which was rescued from Liszt's sketches. It's not as exotic as the third waltz, but still has a mysterious glowing quality. Mephisto Waltz no. 1 | Nikolai Choubine | Piano Music | Free classical music online Recorded on 11/15/2004, uploaded on 02/11/2009 Musician's or Publisher's Notes With this piece I finished my 2nd doctoral recital at IU (Scriabin studies op.65 were also a part of that recital.) _______________________ Between 1859 and 1885, Franz Liszt composed the four Mephisto Waltzes. Liszt maintained a lifelong preoccupation with the legend of Faust, particularly its antagonist Mephistopheles.

In his youth, Liszt was greatly influenced by the violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who himself had garnered a Faustian reputation for having sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his seemingly superhuman abilities. Decades later, Liszt produced both the Faust Symphony, based on Goethe’s telling of the legend, and the four Mephisto Waltzes. The first of the waltzes, Der Tanze in der Dorfschenke (“The Dance in the Villiage Inn”), is the most well-known of the four. Along with the second waltz, it was originally composed for orchestra and only later appeared in both piano duet and piano solo versions. The scene from which the piece draws its programmatic inspiration comes not from Goethe, however, but instead from Nikolas Lenau. In the scene, a wedding feast is taking place in a village inn. As they pass by, Mephistopheles persuades Faust to take part in the joyous festivities. Inside, he takes a fiddle and proceeds to play upon it a seductive waltz.

Under the spell of Mephistopheles’s performance, Faust dances wildly around the room with a woman from the village, eventually waltzing into the night as the devil’s infernal tune fades away. Liszt’s music for this scene is imaginative and daring, as can be seen by his musical depiction of narrative elements such as the devil tuning up his fiddle. Furthermore, the piece is also seen as a precursor to experimental directions in classical music that took place around the turn of the century. Liszt provided two different endings for the waltz. The first holds true to Lenau’s scene and the music dies away slowly as Faust and the village woman continue to dance after they have left the inn. In the second ending, which is the most often heard and perhaps the more musically satisfying, the music builds into a furious climax. Joseph DuBose More music by Franz Liszt Franz Liszt Mephisto Waltz No. 1 S. 514 | MuseScore Mephisto Waltz No. 1 S.

514 Page 1 / 1 00:00 About this sheet music The Mephisto Waltzes are four waltzes composed by Franz Liszt in 1859-62, 1880–81, 1883 and 1885. Nos. 1 and 2 were composed for orchestra, and later arranged for piano, piano duet and two pianos, whereas 3 and 4 were written for piano only. Of the four, the first is the most popular and has been frequently performed in concert and recorded. Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is the best-known of the series and, together with No. 3, the most praised musically. Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke (The Dance in the Village Inn) is the second of two short works he wrote for orchestra. While the work preceding it, Midnight Procession (“Der nächtliche Zug”), is rarely given (though both works have been recorded together), the waltz has been a concert favorite, with its passion, sensuality and dramatics generating an emotional impact.

James Huneker described the work's “langourous syncopated melody” as “one of the most voluptuous episodes outside of the Tristan score.” The Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is a typical example of program music, taking for its program an episode from Faust, not by Goethe but by Nikolaus Lenau (1802–50). The following program note, which Liszt took from Lenau, appears in the printed score: “There is a wedding feast in progress in the village inn, with music, dancing, carousing. Mephistopheles and Faust pass by, and Mephistopheles induces Faust to enter and take part in the festivities. Mephistopheles snatches the fiddle from the hands of a lethargic fiddler and draws from it indescribably seductive and intoxicating strains. The amorous Faust whirls about with a full-blooded village beauty in a wild dance; they waltz in mad abandon out of the room, into the open, away into the woods.

The sounds of the fiddle grow softer and softer, and the nightingale warbles his love-laden song.” Liszt intended to publish the Waltz simultaneously with the Night Procession: “...The publication of the two Lenau's Faust episodes... I entrust to Schuberth's own judgement; as to whether the piano version or the score appears first, makes no difference to me; the only important thing is that both pieces should appear simultaneously, the Night Procession as No.1 and the Mephisto Waltz as No. 2. There is naturally no thematic relationship between the two pieces; but they are related nonetheless by all the contrasts of emotions. A Mephisto of this kind may only arise from such a poodle!...” Liszt’s request was not fulfilled and the two episodes were published separately. The waltz was conceived as both an orchestra and a piano work. Three versions, orchestral (S.110/2), piano duet (S.599/2) and piano solo, (S.514), all date more or less from the same period (1859–62).

The piano duet version is a straightforward transcription of the orchestral version, while the solo piano version is an independent composition. Liszt dedicated the piece to Carl Tausig, his favourite pupil. The orchestral version also has an alternate, softer ending which, while not as rousing as the usual coda, some critics argue is closer to the intent of Lenau's tale. While this ending is not often heard in the concert hall, both Fritz Reiner and James Conlon have recorded it. He also provided two extra passages for the piano solo version. It is not known when Liszt wrote these extra passages, but it was a habit of his later years to make alterations while teaching his works to his pupils. Liszt: 4 Mephisto Waltzes, Mephisto Polka... / Kat ... - Apex: 2564674102 | Buy from ArkivMusic Notes and Editorial Reviews An eloquent Liszt recital of sacred and profane piano music. First a moan - this is another Apex reissue with abysmal documentation - a mere four-page leaflet with just the worksï¿½ titles and no notes whatsoever.

If companies, such as super-budget Naxos, can provide programme notes, then why canï¿½t Warner Classics? Surely it would not be too difficult for them to insert a link to a Warner Classics web site and to programme notes to allow listeners to learn about the music. I suggest that this is important considering that the music here is programme music and needs explanation for full appreciation. Lisztï¿½s musical description of Faustï¿½s activities is after Lenau, not Goethe; how many people have heard of Lenauï¿½s Faust? Read more This music is quite probably new to a majority of customers especially to purchasers of super-budget CDs. But to the business in hand. This present collection might have been called, ï¿½Music Sacred and Profaneï¿½ Since, as the old saying goes the Devil always had the best tunes; letï¿½s deal with the Profane first. The first two of Lisztï¿½s four Mephisto Waltzes, composed for orchestra, were later arranged for piano, piano duet and two pianos, whereas Mephisto Waltzes 3 and 4 were written for piano only.

Of the four, the first is the most popular and has been frequently performed and recorded. The First Mephisto Waltz is also known as The Dance at the Village Inn. Liszt includes the following descriptive note in the score. It is taken from Lenauï¿½s version of the Faust legend:- "There is a wedding feast in progress in the village inn, with music, dancing, carousing. Mephistophelesand Faust pass by, and Mephistopheles induces Faust to enter and take part in the festivities. Mephistopheles snatches the fiddlefrom the hands of a lethargic fiddler and draws from it indescribably seductive and intoxicating strains. The amorous Faust whirls about with a full-blooded village beauty in a wild dance; they waltz in mad abandon out of the room, into the open, away into the woods.

The sounds of the fiddle grow softer and softer, and the nightingale warbles his love-laden song." This First Mephisto Waltz sounds diabolical enough on the orchestra but it loses very little of its intensity in the piano version especially as Katsarisï¿½s fleet fingers capture all its voluptuous devilishness. The Second Mephisto Waltz written some twenty years after the first is cast in a more modern-sounding idiom. It anticipates Scriabin, Busoni and Bartók. Liszt begins and ends the work with an unresolved tritone. This musical interval has become associated with the Devil and this Waltz overall is more violently and voluptuously expressive than its predecessor. Mephisto Waltz No. 3 pushes the harmonic language even further. The music is pulled violently between time signatures and opposing keys. Humphrey Searle, in his book The Music of Liszt, considers this piece to be one of Liszt's finest achievements. The Fourth Mephisto Waltz remained unfinished at the composerï¿½s death and was not published until 1955. Liszt worked on it in 1885.

It is usually performed in a version (S.216b) combining the completed fast outer sections, omitting the incomplete slow middle section. Two other piano pieces, considered simpler and less challenging, and both associated with the Mephisto Waltzes are included in Katsarisï¿½s programme. The manuscript of the Bagatelle sans tonalité bears the title "Fourth Mephisto Waltz". It may have been intended to replace the Fourth Mephisto Waltz when it seemed that Liszt might not be able to finish it. The Mephisto Polkathough not a waltz, follows the same program as the other Mephisto works. It is a somewhat lighter-hearted, tongue-in-cheek take on the concept although one might detect a wicked sardonic intent. To the Sacred - and to Lisztï¿½s sublime Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude (ï¿½The Blessing of God in Solitude) from his Harmonies poétiques et religieuses. This lovely work must contain some of the most beautiful pianissimo passages in the whole piano repertoire.

All is peaceful reverie; lyrical with rippling arpeggios but with an ardent religioso climax. A lovely moving, flowing performance this, to be set beside Marc-André Hamelinï¿½s on Hyperion. Bachï¿½s cantata, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Weeping, Lamenting, Sorrows, Fears) (BWV 12) inspired Liszt to use a bass line within it (and in the ï¿½Crucifixusï¿½ of Bachï¿½s Mass in B Minor) and to transcribe it for piano following the death of Lisztï¿½s daughter Blandine. The music speaks eloquently of tears and mourning but there is also much anger here - it is as though the composer is shaking his fist at a malignant Providence for bestowing so much grief on him. An eloquent Liszt recital of sacred and profane piano music. ï¿½ Ian Lace, MusicWeb International Read less Works on This Recording 1. Musical Musings: Liszt - Mephisto Waltz No.

2 Thursday, June 19, 2014 Liszt - Mephisto Waltz No. 2 Franz Liszt was quite taken with the Faust legend, as were many artists of the Romantic era. He composed a Faust Symphony based on Goethe's version of the legend, but the 4 Mephisto Waltzes were inspired by Nikolaus Lenau , an Austrian poet that also wrote a version of the Faust legend. Liszt wrote two works for orchestra that were inspired by Lenau, collectively called Episodes From Lenau’s “Faust.” One of these pieces is the famous The Dance in the Village Inn, also known as Mephisto Waltz No. 1. Liszt also wrote a version of the first waltz for piano four hands and a version for solo piano which has enough changes in it from the other versions that it is considered an independent work. It took Liszt twenty years to revisit Lenau's version of the legend and he wrote the Mephisto Waltz No. 2 between 1880 and 1881.

The original version was for orchestra, and like the first waltz Liszt made versions for piano four hands and solo piano, with the solo version being substantially different from the other ones. The work was dedicated to the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns , a composer that Liszt knew very well. Liszt had transcribed Saint-Saëns' tone poem Danse Macabre for piano a few years earlier which perhaps had inspired Liszt to write another Mephisto Waltz. Liszt was 70 years old and was in his last productive period as a composer. Nickolaus Lenau The beginning of Liszt's waltz uses the interval of the tritone , which since medieval times has been considered a dissonance and was avoided by composers. It grated on the ears of earlier composers so much that it was called diabolus in musica, or the devil in music. Late in the Romantic era, the tritone was used by composers to represent evil and, in Liszt's case, Mephistopheles.

Saint-Saëns had used the interval of the tritone in his tone poem also by instructing the concertmaster to tune his violin so that the open strings would play a tritone. Modern music has pretty much removed the stigma from the interval and it no longer has the same strong effect it had on earlier audiences. But it is still a restless interval that if used too much can grow tiresome on the ear. Liszt loosely follows the program he used in his first waltz as the opening can be thought of as Mephisto tuning his violin. After the introduction, the music turns into an intense dance that is sprinkled with dissonance. The character of this waltz is more aggressive and more violent than the first waltz. There is new material introduced roughly half way through the piece that is more quiet and reflective, but still there remains an underlying tension. Passion builds until the dance of the beginning returns. The dance grows more hectic until the entire piece collapses into the interval of the tritone as in the beginning. The ending of the piece is written in E-flat major, but builds to an unresolved ending on the interval of the tritone B-F.

The piece actually doesn't end so much as stops on bare B natural octaves. < Mephisto_Waltzes | Piano Society Piano Society A big thank you to Project Petrucci who has helped us already meet our 2017 goal! Mephisto_Waltzes Venezia e Napoli Mephisto Waltzes The Mephisto Waltzes are four virtuoso piano solos composed by Franz Liszt. Of the four, the first is the most popular and has been frequently performed in concert and recorded. It was composed in 1856-1861, and Liszt made an orchestral version (as No.2 in the Zwei Episoden aus Lenaus Faust) immediately after the completion of the original piano solo. Liszt dedicated the piece to Carl Tausig, his favourite pupil (who died prematurely at the age of 29 in 1870). It is popularly called "the Mephisto Waltz," as if there were only one. The Second Mephisto Waltz followed the first by some 20 years. Its composition took place between 1878 and 1881.

Liszt again orchestrated the piece right after the completion of the piano solo. The piece is dedicated to Camille Saint-Saëns.. The Third Mephisto Waltz takes the harmonic language even further. Composed in 1883, it features chords built up by fourths and there are numerous ominous passages with succession of descending minor triads whose roots are a semi-tone apart. Liszt made no orchestral version of the Third Waltz. The Fourth Mephisto Waltz remained unfinished. Liszt worked on the piece in 1885. There is a version with the completed fast outer sections (without the incomplete slow middle section) that has been performed and recorded in recent years. Leslie Howard the acclaimed Australian pianist, who recorded all of Liszt's solo piano pieces (over 95 CDs) made a recording of the whole Waltz including the incomplete middle section that he assembled from Liszt's manuscript sources and completed in line with the composer's late style adding a minimum number of his own notes. It is available on Hyperion's "complete piano music of Liszt"-series. Pretty obvious, no orchestral version of this Waltz was completed by Liszt.

Your name or email address: Do you already have an account? No, create an account now. Yes, my password is: mephisto waltzes : definition of mephisto waltzes and synonyms of mephisto waltzes (English) For the 1971 film, see Mephisto Waltz (film) . The Mephisto Waltzes are four waltzes composed by Franz Liszt in 1859-62, 1880–81, 1883 and 1885. Nos. 1-2 were composed for orchestra, later arranged for piano, piano duet and two pianos, whereas 3 and 4 were written for piano only. Of the four, the first is the most popular and has been frequently performed in concert and recorded. [1] The Bagatelle sans tonalité (Bagatelle without tonality; also Bagatelle ohne Tonart) is sometimes included with Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes.

The manuscript bears the title "Fourth Mephisto Waltz" [2] and may have been intended to replace the Fourth Mephisto Waltz when it appeared Liszt might not be able to finish it. [3] Critics point out the similarity in tonal center between these two pieces (D major) as confirmation of their composition shortly after one other in 1885 as well as Liszt's initial intent with the Bagatelle. [4] One other composition to be considered is the Mephisto Polka which, while not a waltz, follows the same program as the other Mephisto works. Contents No. 1, S.514 Excerpt from the beginning of the Mephisto Waltz No. 1. Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is the best-known of the series and, together with No. 3, the most praised musically. Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke (The Dance in the Village Inn) is the second of two short works he wrote for orchestra.

While the work preceding it, Midnight Procession ("Der nächtliche Zug"), is rarely given (though both works have been recorded together), the waltz has been a concert favorite, with its passion, sensuality and dramatics generating an emotional impact. James Huneker described the work's "langourous syncopated melody " as "one of the most voluptuous episodes outside of the Tristan score." [5] The Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is a typical example of program music , taking for its program an episode from Faust , not by Goethe but by Nikolaus Lenau (1802–50). The following program note, which Liszt took from Lenau, appears in the printed score: There is a wedding feast in progress in the village inn, with music, dancing, carousing. Mephistopheles and Faust pass by, and Mephistopheles induces Faust to enter and take part in the festivities. Mephistopheles snatches the fiddle from the hands of a lethargic fiddler and draws from it indescribably seductive and intoxicating strains.

The amorous Faust whirls about with a full-blooded village beauty in a wild dance; they waltz in mad abandon out of the room, into the open, away into the woods. The sounds of the fiddle grow softer and softer, and the nightingale warbles his love-laden song." [6] Liszt intended to publish the Waltz simultaneously with the Night Procession: "...The publication of the two Lenau's Faust episodes... I entrust to Schuberth's own judgement; as to whether the piano version or the score appears first, makes no difference to me; the only important thing is that both pieces should appear simultaneously, the Night Procession as No.1 and the Mephisto Waltz as No.2. There is naturally no thematic relationship between the two pieces; but they are related nonetheless by all the contrasts of emotions. A Mephisto of this kind may only arise from such a poodle!..." [7] Liszt’s request was not fulfilled and the two episodes were published separately. The waltz was conceived as both an orchestra and a piano work.

Three versions, orchestral ( S.110/2 ), piano duet ( S.599/2 ) and piano solo, (S.514), all date more or less from the same period (1859–62). The piano duet version is a straightforward transcription of the orchestral version, while the solo piano version is an independent composition. Liszt dedicated the piece to Carl Tausig , his favourite pupil. [8] The orchestral version also has an alternate, softer ending which, while not as rousing as the usual coda, some critics argue is closer to the intent of Lenau's tale.[ citation needed ] While this ending is not often heard in the concert hall, both Fritz Reiner and James Conlon have recorded it. He also provided two extra passages for the piano solo version. It is not known when Liszt wrote these extra passages, but it was a habit of his later years to make alterations while teaching his works to his pupils. [8] No. 2, S.515 The Second Mephisto Waltz followed the first by some 20 years.

Its composition took place between late 1880 and early 1881. Liszt wrote the orchestral version (S.111) first, then based both the piano solo (S.515) and four-hand (S.600) versions on it. The orchestral version was premiered in Budapest in 1881. After this performance Liszt extended the work and changed the ending radically. The printed music for all three versions is based on this revision and is dedicated to Camille Saint-Saëns . [9] Harmonically, the Second Waltz anticipates Scriabin , Busoni and Bartók . Liszt begins and ends the work with an unresolved tritone , a musical interval famous as representing the devil in music, and the music overall is more violently expressive than both its predecessor and Camille Saint-Saëns ' Danse macabre , which Liszt had transcribed a few years earlier. [10] The piece, for all its dissonance , remains firmly in E-flat until the B - F tritone shatters the work's climax at the piece's end. [8] This gesture leaves the work's ending unresolved harmonically.

[11] No. 3, S.215a and S.216 Composed in 1883, the Third Mephisto Waltz (S.216) takes the harmonic language even further, featuring chords built up by fourths with numerous passages of descending minor triads whose roots are a semitone apart. The chord on which these progressions are based, according to Alan Walker, "is difficult to explain in terms of traditional harmony. It is best regarded as a ' fourths ' chord in its last inversion." [12] Tonally, the music is pulled between F-sharp major , D minor and D-sharp minor . As in its predecessors, the Third Waltz has the devil dancing in triple time while other groups of three move past so quickly that a larger rhythm of four is established, and triple time is abandoned altogether in the dreamlike passage near the work's conclusion. [8] Humphrey Searle, in his book The Music of Liszt, considers this piece to be one of Liszt's finest achievements. [13] This waltz bore no dedication initially.

After French pianist Marie Jaëll played the work for the composer (who asked her to repeat certain passages over and again), he made extensive changes to the work and dedicated it to her. Saint-Saëns, Jaëll’s composition teacher at the Paris Conservatoire (who also dedicated his first piano concerto to her), commented about her interpretation of Liszt’s works that "only one person in the world [besides Liszt] who can play Liszt—Marie Jaëll." [14] Liszt also made no orchestral version. [8] However, British composer and arranger Gordon Jacob orchestrated this along with other late works of Liszt for the Sadler Welles ballet Apparitions, a project conceived by composer Constant Lambert . [10] The first recording of this piece was by France Clidat in her traversal of Liszt's works for Decca. [15] No. 4, S.216b The Fourth Mephisto Waltz (S.696) remained unfinished and was not published until 1955. Liszt worked on the piece in 1885.

Like the Second Waltz, the Fourth uses an introduction and coda which do not stick to the basic key . While the work is mainly in D, it begins and ends on C-sharp . This, writes noted Australian Liszt scholar and pianist Leslie Howard , [16] was an encouragement while working on his performing version to refer to the main material in the slow Andantino and to recapitulate a portion of the fast Allegro before Liszt's coda. [17] Some critics do not consider this waltz as original as its predecessors and surmise that, had Liszt lived to complete it, he may have made considerable improvements. [18] No orchestral version of this Waltz was made by Liszt. Despite its being unfinished, this waltz is still considered playable. [18] It is usually performed in a version (S.216b) combining the completed fast outer sections, omitting the incomplete slow middle section. Howard made a performing version of this Waltz in 1978 which utilizes a middle section assembled from Liszt's manuscript sources, completed in line with the composer's late style and with a minimum number of added notes from Howard.

A recording of this completion is available on Hyperion 's "complete piano music of Liszt"-series, while the sheet music, dedicated to Alfred Brendel , has been published by Basil Ramsey, [19] and once again in 1988 by Orpheus Publications. However, the first recording of a version of this piece was by France Clidat in her traversal of Liszt's works for Decca. [15] Legacy The pieces are referenced as the title of the 1969 novel, The Mephisto Waltz by American author and Juilliard -trained pianist Fred Mustard Stewart . Composer Jerry Goldsmith also incorporated the pieces into his score for 1971 film of the same name based on Stewart's novel. ^ a b Searle, "Final," 71. ^ Howard, 1. Bibliography ed. Ewen, David, The Complete Book of Classical Music (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1965). Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 65-11033 ed.

Hamilton, Kenneth, The Cambridge Companion to Liszt (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005). ISBN 0-521-64462-3 (paperback). Baker, James M., "A survey of the late piano works" Hamilton, Kenneth, "Early and Weimar piano works" Howard, Leslie, Notes for Hyperion CDA66201, Liszt Waltzes, Leslie Howard, piano. Walker, Alan, Liszt: The Final Years, 1861-1886 (Cornell University Press, 1997). Searle, Humphrey, The Music of Liszt, Second Revised Edition (New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1966). Library of Congress Card Catalog Number 66-27581. Sir George Grove, ed. Stankey Sadie, "Liszt, Franz," The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 20 vols. (London: MacMillian, 1980). ISBN 0-333-23111-2 .

External links Mephisto Waltzes - Franz Liszt - Piano Society Mephisto Waltzes (Admins and Artists only) Mephisto Waltzes The Mephisto Waltzes are four virtuoso piano solos composed by Franz Liszt. Of the four, the first is the most popular and has been frequently performed in concert and recorded. It was composed in 1856-1861, and Liszt made an orchestral version (as No.2 in the Zwei Episoden aus Lenaus Faust) immediately after the completion of the original piano solo. Liszt dedicated the piece to Carl Tausig, his favourite pupil (who died prematurely at the age of 29 in 1870). It is popularly called "the Mephisto Waltz," as if there were only one. The Second Mephisto Waltz followed the first by some 20 years. Its composition took place between 1878 and 1881. Liszt again orchestrated the piece right after the completion of the piano solo. The piece is dedicated to Camille Saint-Saï¿œns..

The Third Mephisto Waltz takes the harmonic language even further. Composed in 1883, it features chords built up by fourths and there are numerous ominous passages with succession of descending minor triads whose roots are a semi-tone apart. Liszt made no orchestral version of the Third Waltz. The Fourth Mephisto Waltz remained unfinished. Liszt worked on the piece in 1885. There is a version with the completed fast outer sections (without the incomplete slow middle section) that has been performed and recorded in recent years. Leslie Howard the acclaimed Australian pianist, who recorded all of Liszt's solo piano pieces (over 95 CDs) made a recording of the whole Waltz including the incomplete middle section that he assembled from Liszt's manuscript sources and completed in line with the composer's late style adding a minimum number of his own notes. It is available on Hyperion's "complete piano music of Liszt"-series. Pretty obvious, no orchestral version of this Waltz was completed by Liszt. Mephisto Waltz no.

1 | Washington García | Piano Music | Free classical music online Recorded on 10/28/2008, uploaded on 04/22/2009 Musician's or Publisher's Notes Between 1859 and 1885, Franz Liszt composed the four Mephisto Waltzes. Liszt maintained a lifelong preoccupation with the legend of Faust, particularly its antagonist Mephistopheles. In his youth, Liszt was greatly influenced by the violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who himself had garnered a Faustian reputation for having sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his seemingly superhuman abilities. Decades later, Liszt produced both the Faust Symphony, based on Goethe’s telling of the legend, and the four Mephisto Waltzes. The first of the waltzes, Der Tanze in der Dorfschenke (“The Dance in the Villiage Inn”), is the most well-known of the four. Along with the second waltz, it was originally composed for orchestra and only later appeared in both piano duet and piano solo versions.

The scene from which the piece draws its programmatic inspiration comes not from Goethe, however, but instead from Nikolas Lenau. In the scene, a wedding feast is taking place in a village inn. As they pass by, Mephistopheles persuades Faust to take part in the joyous festivities. Inside, he takes a fiddle and proceeds to play upon it a seductive waltz. Under the spell of Mephistopheles’s performance, Faust dances wildly around the room with a woman from the village, eventually waltzing into the night as the devil’s infernal tune fades away. Liszt’s music for this scene is imaginative and daring, as can be seen by his musical depiction of narrative elements such as the devil tuning up his fiddle. Furthermore, the piece is also seen as a precursor to experimental directions in classical music that took place around the turn of the century. Liszt provided two different endings for the waltz. The first holds true to Lenau’s scene and the music dies away slowly as Faust and the village woman continue to dance after they have left the inn.

In the second ending, which is the most often heard and perhaps the more musically satisfying, the music builds into a furious climax. Joseph DuBose More music by Franz Liszt Franz Liszt The Mephisto Waltz" Essay Reviewed By: John Teabout Jr. January 18, 2006 Piano 1 A4 Franz Liszt was born on October 22, 1811 in Raiding, Hungary. His father Adam Liszt, a cello player, taught him to play the piano. As a young boy he moved to Vienna to study piano under Carl Czerny and composition under Antonio Salieri. Two years following him and his family moved to Paris, France where he toured broadly as a pianist. Liszt's father Adam died in 1826, leaving the 15 year old boy to care for his mother. Being depressed and dishearten took a toll on him as he earned a living by teaching piano lessons in Paris. Liszt interest in music began to fade away and he questioned his profession as a pianist.

Eventually, becoming a passionate reader Liszt absorbed himself in literature and religion, which turned his life around and had a insightful influence on his life and work. With the Revolution of 1830, as if awakened by cannon fire, Liszt was inspired to engage in his art and life once again. Being inspired by the violinist, Paganini and his technique, Liszt focused on developing a similar technique as a pianist. In 1835 he left Paris with his mistress, the Comtesse d'Agoult, with whom he traveled extensively during the following years, as his reputation as a pianist of astonishing powers grew. Subsequent to having three children he separated from his mistress in 1844. In 1848, Liszt settled in Weimar in the Altenberg as Court Kapellmeister, being accompanied by Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein and retires from concert stage. At this time he turned his attention now to composition and in particular to the conception of a new form, the symphonic poem. In 1858 he resigns as Kapellmeister resulting from attacks from conservatives against his and his pupil’s works.

By 1860, Joachim and Brahms publish their proposal against Liszt and the modern composers in an unsuccessful effort to prevent new progress and reforms. Eventually the old classic traditions would die away to the progress forged by Liszt and the Romantics as the century unfolded. In 1860 Liszt and Carolyne attempt to get married in Rome but on the eve of their marriage the plans are let down. This was due to her un-submitted divorce papers. This Papal rejection is followed by a good deal of controversy. Unable to unite they remain separate but soul mates for life. He then, in 1861, moved to Rome, where he found expression for his long-held religious leanings. Much of the rest of his life was time devoted to composing religious music, although he kept up his career as a teacher and performer. In 1865 Liszt makes the decision to enter the Vatican and receives the tonsure and minor orders. From the year of 1869 on Liszt divided his stay between Rome, Weimar, and Budapest. He returned on a regular basis to Weimar, where he had many pupils.

At a later time he accepted similar obligations in Budapest, where he was regarded as a national hero. He establishes the Conservatory of Music in Budapest and is elected its first president. In the company of a disorientated group of conservatives who rejected most of his output as radical and unmusical Liszt scores success with several pieces, his St.Elizabeth Oratorio among others Succeeding his son-in-law Wagner, he died of pneumonia four years after in Bayreuth in 1886. As a pianist, he has contributed greatly to music as it is today. Liszt works are considered unique and one of a kind. Through the succeeding years Liszt's genius as a composer would gradually surface shedding light on many previously unheard masterworks This piece starts out with varying tone and range of notes. It swayed from soft to loud and incorporated both low and high notes. The notes were played hard and staccato. The piece is as unpredictable as the lottery and varies greatly in its wild characteristics. This piece demonstrates the great variation of low and high notes by traveling up and down the keys. The tempo is in the fast range, but it goes from a kind of fast Rik Wyatt English 1102 B 6 Oct.

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Question: Who, between 1859-1885, composed the four Mephisto Waltzes?
Answer: Franz Liszt